Self Control Is a Foreign Concept
by mad not sad
Summary: It would be much easier to stick to her own no-boys rule if Austin Tucker would stop looking so attractive in that sweaty white undershirt.  Kaylie/Austin
1. Temptation in a Sweaty White Undershirt

sophisticate

_Self-Control Is a Foreign Concept_

**Chapter 1: Temptation in a Sweaty White Undershirt**

Kaylie sat primly in the parents' viewing room of the Rock, her tan legs crossed demurely at her ankles, her white skirt skimming her kneecaps. She tucked a stray strand of dark hair behind an ear and folded her hands on her lap.

She was alone in the viewing room. It was a Sunday, Kaylie's one day off. The fact that she was even at the Rock at all was ridiculous. For years, Kaylie had practically _lived_ for Sundays, for freedom, for a break from the daily grind of gymnastics.

So why the hell was she here at the Rock, on a Sunday, at the ungodly hour of eight-thirty in the morning, no less? Well, Kaylie knew why. Her parents, as her co-managers, had scheduled a meeting with Sasha to discuss Kaylie's career and her preparation for Worlds. And Sasha, being annoyingly punctual and energetic as usual, had decided that there was no better time for a meeting than early on a Sunday morning. The three adults were in Sasha's office now, while Kaylie had been relegated to amuse herself elsewhere.

And oh, what a way Kaylie had found to amuse herself. The Rock was empty of gymnasts on this Sunday morning – empty except for one surprising early bird. Austin Tucker.

The Rock's very own recent Olympic gold medalist was just now practicing on the rings, seeming to be very deeply in focus. His rugged face was strained as the defined muscles in his arms performed feats that _had_ to be inhuman. The tight, white fabric of his thin undershirt had gotten soaked through from perspiration, and his shirt had become peculiarly see-through…

_Stop_, Kaylie commanded herself, shaking her head firmly. _This is Austin Tucker! Austin Tucker! Obnoxious, cocky, inappropriate asshole Austin Tucker, the boy you absolutely can't stand. He's hideous. Disgusting. Not at all attractive_. Kaylie repeated that mantra again in her head, or at least she tried to, but she kept getting stuck somewhere in the middle whenever Austin would go upside down on the rings, and his sticky white shirt would ride down, exposing just a little of his...

What the hell was wrong with her?

Kaylie bit her lip. Austin Tucker was a pig, a cocky, immature pig. Kaylie had no time for distractions like him. She was the National Champion, for God's sake. It was her job, as team captain, to set an example for her teammates. And that example meant very strictly having nothing whatsoever to do with boys. Especially not irresponsible, reckless, powerful, strong, hot boys like Austin Tucker.

Oh, God. Had she seriously just let herself think that Austin was _hot_?

And…oh God. No, no. This couldn't be happening. Kaylie gripped her skirt tightly, feeling her breaths coming quicker and quicker. Oh, no. She was about to start hyperventilating.

Austin had dismounted from the rings and was now very purposefully striding over to the viewing box. Shoot. She had thought that he hadn't noticed her presence, but it was now very clear that he had. In fact, Austin was staring straight up at Kaylie with that insufferable grin on his face, an alarming twinkle in his blue-grey eyes.

Was he coming up to talk to her? Oh, yes, he was _definitely_ coming up to talk to her. Damn! He was coming up to talk to her! Kaylie shut her eyes firmly, wishing desperately that she was still in her comfortable bed and that this was all a dream and that her mother would wake her up in a few minutes with hot tea and that Austin Tucker was _not_ walking through the door of the viewing room right now, clad in a skintight undershirt, sweat glistening all over his body.

Her eyes fluttered open. Nope, he was still there. In fact, he had gotten close to her…precariously close. Kaylie was sitting in the second row of seats, and Austin was standing near the front of the box, just one row away.

"Nice to know I had a private audience viewing my practice," drawled Austin. "It really motivated me out there, knowing that you just couldn't stay away."

Kaylie scowled, something she tended to do a lot whenever she was within 100 feet of the impossible Austin Tucker. "Yeah, dream on, Austin. I'm just waiting for my parents to be done talking to Sasha." It sounded like a pathetic excuse when she said it, even though it was the truth.

Austin took a step toward her, grinning widely. "Well, then let's hope their meeting runs long."

Rolling her eyes, Kaylie glared at her nemesis. Really, maybe she could at least _attempt_ to take him seriously if he weren't such an incorrigible flirt all of the time. She was sure he must do this with all girls, but it seemed that any time he got near her, all that came out of his mouth was innuendo after innuendo.

"Actually," Kaylie began, "I'm really hoping that it ends right about now, because I don't want…" She trailed off as she took in the sight before her, barely believing what she was seeing. Austin had had crossed his burly arms and grasped the hem of his translucent shirt, slowly bringing it upwards and exposing his ungodly six-pack. "I don't…want…" she sputtered, grasping for words. Finally, she gave up. "What the hell are you doing?" she demanded.

Austin sent her his trademark smirk. "Relax, Captain Cruz, I'm just taking this off." Indeed, shirt was completely off now and Kaylie was making a heroic effort to keep her eyes on his leering face. "It's all sweaty, see?" He tossed the sweat-drenched shirt at her.

Kaylie shrieked. "Ew, gross!" she screeched, batting the shirt away from her face frantically. She hissed. "Wow, that was really mature. You continue to be _such_ a great role model."

"Why, thank you," replied Austin, crossing his arms over his well-defined chest. "That means a lot, coming from a self-appointed exemplary role model like yourself."

Raising her eyebrows, Kaylie countered, "Yeah, well, at least I set a good example. Unlike you, I don't stay up all night partying and drinking. I actually focus on my training."

"Well, it depends on your definition of training," Austin clarified. "Mine happens to involve getting pretty flexible, too." He winked. "Between the bed sheets, that is."

Kaylie sat up prissily in her seat, tilting her chin upwards. "See, this is why I can't stand you. Would it kill you to be serious for once?"

"Hey, hey," Austin said, advancing toward her soothingly. He straddled the chair in the row in front of her – even though Kaylie's row was higher, their height difference put them on eye level. "You wanna talk about serious? I'd say a gymnast has to be pretty serious to come in and train at seven on a Sunday morning."

Kaylie stared at him in shock, hardly believing what she was hearing. "You got here at _seven_?"

Austin shrugged. "I'm not _all_ play and no work," he teased. "Unlike _some_ people, I seem to have found a pretty good balance between the two."

"Wow," Kaylie conceded, mildly impressed. "I guess I may have underestimated you."

He raised an eyebrow provocatively. "Don't worry, Kaylie, at least now you know. Although you should know that it's basically impossible to _over_estimate me in…certain areas," he bragged, looking downward suggestively.

She blushed. It was just so…so stupid, how he made her feel as uncertain as a twelve-year-old girl again. She should be used to egotistical boys making sexual comments and flirting with her. Kaylie had thought she was, until Austin Tucker came along. Everything about him unnerved her. He had thrown her comfort zone right out the window, not to mention the concept of restful nights. No, ever since Austin had entered her life, Kaylie could count upon only one thing – tossing and turning each night after sleepless night, desperately trying to think of _anything_ but the obnoxious Olympian.

"What's the matter?" Austin asked solicitously, leaning his head nearer to hers. "Cat got your tongue?"

Kaylie shook her head furiously, her hair whipping her in the face. She tried to think of a way to respond but all she could think was _oh my god sweaty torso glistening muscles powerful arms sculpted stomach oh my_…

"I can help you with that…" Austin trailed off gruffly as he leaned in and brought a calloused hand up to Kaylie's delicate face.

Her sharp intake of breath seemed to spur him on. It was like she was frozen in time, a pretty little statue, just sitting back in her cushioned seat, eyes wide as Austin traced an unidentifiable pattern on her cheekbone. His fingertip was rough against her downy skin, and she hated that even the simplest, most innocent of touches could be nearly enough to undo her completely.

His breath was hot against her cheek and she fought so, so hard to keep her eyes open, to keep her back against the back of the chair…

…but Kaylie's self-discipline had always only extended so far.

As Austin's large hand cupped her cheek, she leaned into his gentle touch, eyelids fluttering shut. Encouraged, he brought his other hand to her shoulder, pulling her toward him insistently. His hot breath trailed down her face, settling somewhere just a fraction of an inch away from her mouth and, God, she wanted to kill him now more than ever but she wanted to kiss him even more.

The nearness of his lips to hers was slowly making her go insane. She was literally falling into an exquisite sort of madness, and she didn't know how much longer she could take it. A soft whimper fell from her lips as she felt his sweaty torso brush her arm, and that seemed to spur him into action.

He met her lips gently but persistently, easing her into the kiss. She felt as though she was falling into him, and although she was sitting down it was all she could do for her knees not to buckle. His grip on her body strengthened as he supported her, and her fingertips curled ever so slightly against his chest.

He was unrelentlessly gentle, and shockingly, it was her and not him who was finally frustrated enough to deepen the kiss. His lips were enveloping her mouth, his tongue was sending tremors throughout her body, and in all of her sixteen years of living, she had never _felt _so much before. It simultaneously terrified and exhilarated her.

His intent kisses felt better than gliding through the air on the uneven bars, her whole body suspended in the air, weightless. She finally knew what it was like to fly. Her world was soaring, spinning, imploding, and all she could do was kiss him back harder, losing herself in an abandon that was definitely not befitting of a team captain.

When his hand brushed her hair back in a soft gesture so tender that it made her want to cry, she knew that they were entering dangerous territory. He was tending to her bottom lip, sucking on it gently, when she suddenly and abruptly pulled away, her eyes wild and dark.

Austin stared at her, disoriented, heaving ragged breaths. He looked irresistible at that moment, and that was how Kaylie knew she had to get away from him immediately.

Jumping to her feet, incredibly flustered, she shakily exhaled, "I…I have to go." Kaylie ran past the rest of the chairs, leaving her purse abandoned on the seat next to her, focused only on exiting the room as quickly as possible.

She decided to wait out the rest of her parents' meeting in the car.

**A/N: Thank you for reading! I always appreciate reviews.**


	2. Your Lacy Pink Underwear, My Libido

sophisticate

_Self-Control Is a Foreign Concept_

**Chapter 2: Your Lacy Pink Underwear, My Libido**

She had been avoiding him all week.

It began on Monday, when Austin had rolled into the parking lot of the Rock in the nick of time, having overslept after a restless night spent reliving the inexplicable events of Sunday morning. He sauntered through the gym doors and of course all the little girls came swarming. Austin hardly registered them, though, as his eyes scanned the large room keenly for a dark brown ponytail held up with a pink-and-black scrunchie.

He caught sight of it as she dashed out of the room and up to Sasha's office, obviously feigning an 'urgent need' to speak with the coach.

On Monday and on every other day that week, she vanished during the lunch break and never slowed her training even to stop at the water cooler for five seconds. The moment Sasha dismissed the elite gymnasts, she fled, not bothering to shower or even say good-bye to her friends.

Kaylie was clearly extremely talented at evading a situation.

Austin was not. He liked to face things head-on.

And here he was – Thursday evening, five minutes before the elite girls were due to be done with training. Austin leaned casually against the hood of Kaylie's car, arms crossed in a very James Dean posture of nonchalance. His leather jacket was strained by his broad soldiers, but unlike Dean, he actually did have a cause.

Austin was trying very hard not to feel like a stalker, and for the most part it was working. It wasn't like he was obsessed with Kaylie or anything – he scoffed at the thought. No, he just wanted to check up on her, talk to her, hear her voice, stare into her eyes, take her into his arms, lean in and touch…

_Whoa, slow down there_: he shook his head to clear it. The crisp evening air was almost enough to jolt him into reality and save him from the warm, heady world of his fantasies.

Speaking of his fantasies…Kaylie's tired face suddenly became visible through the glass doors of the Rock. She had obviously thrown on her tracksuit and gym bag, following her routine this week of fleeing after training to avoid a confrontation with Austin. Well, this time Austin had outmaneuvered her.

She walked briskly over to her parking spot, intent on fishing her car keys out of her bag. Austin tensed for a split second as she approached him, then quickly regained his pose of insouciance. She glanced up.

"What the…" Kaylie looked confused. And then livid. "What the hell are you doing?"

"Nice to see you, too, Kaylie," Austin smirked, settling easy into his invulnerable-charmer routine. He'd perfected it years ago, after all.

"Uh…not so much," replied Kaylie, sounding pissed as hell. She stopped in her tracts, one hip jutted out, her lean arms crossed over her chest. A pose he'd seen her adopt countless times before. A pose that meant that he was in for a good, long lecture. "You can't just lounge around on _other people's_ cars, Austin. It's probably illegal, you know, there could be some law against car-trespassing or something, and as much as I'd love to see you go to prison, I'd rather –"

"- '_car-trespassing'_?" He cut her off disbelievingly. "Even lawyers don't stretch the law that much."

Kaylie scowled. She was always fairly angry whenever she encountered Austin, but tonight she was clearly in a horrible mood. "Then it's a good thing I'm not a lawyer, huh? Instead, I'm an elite gymnast, an elite gymnast who has to get _home_ so that I can get enough sleep and rest before training again tomorrow."

"Well, then you'd better get home," invited Austin mockingly, throwing his arms open in faux-concordance.

"Yeah, okay, I will. Just as soon as you get off of my car," here she glared at him pointedly, "and I find my…" She distractedly resumed her previous task of searching her large gym bag for her car keys. "Find my…" Kaylie hissed in frustration, using both hands now to take items out of the bag and toss them on the ground, her search becoming frantic. "Where the hell are they?"

Austin grinned to himself, knowing that she was too focused on finding her keys to notice his satisfaction. "What, what do you need?" he feigned concern.

"My keys," responded Kaylie absentmindedly. She was launching objects out now at a rapid-fire. A towel. A pink water bottle. A case of spare scrunchies. An energy bar. Now another outfit meant for after the shower she'd skipped every day this week: a frilly tank top. Dark-wash jeans. Pink, lacy panties…

…_fuck_.

Before he could catch himself, Austin groaned. Kaylie's head jolted upwards. "What…" She followed his line of vision and blushed crimson when she spotted her discarded underwear. She quickly bent down and snatched up the offending article of clothing. Although clearly embarrassed, she looked back at Austin and met his gaze head-on.

Meanwhile, Austin was making a Herculean effort to control himself. If clenched his fists hard enough and kept his brain on a steady mantra of _Focus focus focus focus_…but his mind was clearly acting independently and slipped into _Focus focus pink lacy panties no focus but pink lace_…

Fuck. He was totally fucked. Even if he'd wanted to (and at this point he couldn't bring himself to want to), Austin couldn't stop himself from staring back into her dark eyes and imagining that little piece of lace falling onto the ground in an entirely different situation…

She was in his bedroom, those night eyes drawing him ever close to his large bed. Her underwear had fallen to the ground and he was just so entranced by the sight of her that he didn't even realize that they had both ended up lying on the navy blue sheets. Her tiny hand traced circles on his chest and he closed his eyes, shuddering at the contact. When he felt her hips slide down and her body pressed against him, he couldn't take it anymore. He flipped her over, pinning her to his mattress with one easy touch of his strong arm. Throwing her head back in pleasure, she leaned her face up to meet his in a wild, heady kiss. Their lips were moving faster, now, and their backs arched and she was moaning his name…

"…Austin? Austin! AUSTIN!" Kaylie's insistent voice brought him out of his recurring fantasy. He shook his head, hard, trying to swipe the image of her like _that_ from his mind. "AUSTIN!" Apparently, she had been trying to get his attention for a while.

"Huh?" His train of thought was still a little foggy and bemused.

Kaylie squinted, clearly puzzled by his behavior. Finally, she shrugged. "Nothing. Anyway, I need to find my…" She made as if to reach back into her bag for her keys, but then her eyes instantly shot back to Austin's impassive face. "Wait a minute…"

Damn, it looked like she was onto him. Oh, well, Austin couldn't help himself; he felt pretty proud of himself at the moment. He threw his arms behind his head and smirked infuriatingly.

"You didn't…" Kaylie breathed. Then she scowled, placing her hands on her hips. "You did!" she accused.

Austin tried his best to widen his blue eyes as much as possible, going for the innocent-little-lost-puppy look. Austin Tucker could pull off a lot of looks, but unfortunately, it seemed that 'innocent' wasn't one of them.

"I can't believe you!" shrieked Kaylie.

Suavely, he reached into his pocket and tossed the all-important keys into the air, easily reaching up and catching them high above her head. "Looking for these?"

Glaring at him furiously, she spit, "You're such an ass, you know that?" Kaylie reached up to try and grab the keys, but Austin grinned and moved them just out of her reach. Oh, how he loved his height advantage.

"Uh-uh," he scolded. "Nice try."

Kaylie looked near explosion. "Give…them…to…me…" she demanded through gritted teeth.

Maybe Austin was some kind of masochist or something, but for some reason he kind of _liked_ it when Kaylie got all riled up and pissed at him. At least then she was paying attention to him, noticing him.

Plus, she looked pretty damn sexy right now, with her eyes all wild and her cheeks flushed, glaring at him so intently. Austin wanted to just charge forward right now and claim her. Fuck propriety. She was gorgeous and he wanted her _so badly_, he would crush her lips to his and lean her back on her car and make her feel like he knew she'd never felt before, make her feel things that Carter wouldn't have even attempted to elicit.

But no. No, he had a purpose with all of this and Austin liked to think that he had a little more self-control than to just pounce on Kaylie every time he saw her…

…damn, that actually sounded pretty amazing. _No, Tucker_, he scolded himself. _Focus_.

"Listen, Kaylie, despite what you may think, I didn't steal your keys just to be a dick. Come on, what kinda guy do you think I am?"

She pursed her lips and raised her eyebrows, her fuming eyes saying,_ Do you really want me to answer that_?

Austin quirked an eyebrow. "Never mind," he amended, a little impressed at her wordless fierceness. He lowered his arm and set her keys behind him on the car. "But I had to take them, see? You've been avoiding me all week and," he lowered his voice and stared her right in the eyes so she'd realize the gravitas of his words, "_we need to talk_."

"I…I haven't been…I'm not avoiding you," stammered Kaylie, turning a little pink. Austin bit down hard on the side of his cheek so that he would stop thinking about how adorable she looked.

He sent her a disbelieving look.

"I haven't!" she insisted.

He sighed. She wasn't fooling anyone, least of all herself. "You've thrown yourself into your training, you avoid the lunch room, you leave every day immediately, you run away every time you see me," Austin rattled off in a monotone. "You can't avoid this any longer. We are _going_ to talk about what happened on Sunday."

"S-Sunday?" Kaylie stuttered, obviously flustered. "What about Sunday? Nothing happened on Sunday. Why Sunday?" she ran all of her words together in a frantic string of denial.

Austin rolled his eyes. So she was going to make him play this fucked-up game with her. "Hmm…what in the world could have possibly happened on _Sunday_?" he mocked, stroking his chin exaggeratedly and pretending to look as though he were deep in thought. "Well…I woke up. Came to the Rock. Trained. And, oh, what was it…oh, now I remember: made out with Kaylie Cruz in the viewing room!"

"Shh!" Kaylie panicked and looked around the deserted parking lot frantically.

Since there was no one else around, Austin assumed she must be trying to prevent herself from hearing him say the truth. "There's no use pretending it didn't happen," he bravely forged on, "because it did. We kissed, Kaylie. And I'm not going to beat around the bush – _it was fucking incredible_." He stared her straight in the eyes. "Ignoring me for an entire week afterwards, though, now that's a little immature."

"Immature?" Kaylie echoed, clearly irritated. "I'll tell you what's immature," she hissed in a low voice. "Taking your shirt off like some kind of…some kind of…" she sputtered, "…some kind of _stripper_ or something and _assaulting_ me while my parents were in the next room."

Austin tried, unsuccessfully, to bite back a laugh. He chuckled darkly. She really was the most entertaining person he had ever had the dubious pleasure of meeting. "Oh, Kaylie, stop pretending like your life is a little soap opera. If I remember correctly," he took a step forward, leaning his head down toward Kaylie's shocked face, "you kissed me back."

She wasn't breathing and he found her deer-in-headlights look unreasonably attractive. They were staring at each other intently; they were so close. If he leaned down one inch or she tilted her chin upward about thirty degrees, their lips would meet and he could relive that _unbelievably fucking sexy_ kiss from Sunday, but this time he wouldn't let her run away, he wouldn't sit there like a helpless dummy, he would go after her and grab her arm and whirl her around and take her in his arms and pull her mouth to his, and he would whisper in her ear…

"Ooh, what's this?" The female voice didn't register with Austin for a moment, not until Kaylie was the first to snap out of their…whatever _that_ had been…and looked to the right. Austin blinked and looked in the direction of the sound. Oh, fucking fuck. Fucking Lauren Tanner and her fucking amazing timing.

"Austin and Kaylie, hmm, what will the reporters say," Lauren giggled mischievously. _Damn_ her for walking outside just as he had been about to show Kaylie what she was missing.

Kaylie had somehow put about five feet between her and Austin in a split second. "Lauren," she managed, caught completely off-guard. "Don't worry, the reporters won't say anything. The only reason I'm even talking to him is because the jerk _stole my car keys_," and Kaylie shot him a look that explicitly said, _Don't think I've forgotten about that_.

Oh, what, she was still pissed about _that_? The _keys_? A man had to do what a man had to do, to get the girl of his dreams (literally, she wreaked havoc on his mind every night) to talk to him.

Lauren giggled. "Mm-hmm, sure," she teased, her tone making it obvious that she didn't believe Kaylie. "Well, have _fun_, you two." The blonde got into her car and backed out, waving at the pair playfully from behind the windshield.

"Hear that?" Austin drawled. "She said 'fun' – it's a concept I don't think you're familiar with. You really need to lighten up a little."

Kaylie glared at him sardonically. "Yes, I know what fun is. And I can have all the fun I want after the Olympics. But right now, I need to focus on my training. I'm the Natio-"

"- National Champion," he finished with her. Austin had heard this little shtick more times than he could count. "Well guess what, Kaylie. I'm the National Champion, too. And I manage to have a little fun." He closed the distance she had put between them again. "Do you need me to show you what I mean?" he asked huskily.

"I…" Kaylie never finished her response, as Emily and Payson pushed open the glass doors next, chatting excitedly to each other.

"And thank _God_, I finally landed my –" Payson noticed Kaylie and Austin standing in the rapidly dimming light. "Oh, hey, guys."

"Hi," greeted Emily.

Austin gritted his teeth. Did the Rock girls have some kind of secret girl code? _Thou shalt intrude whenever your best friend is about to get thoroughly kissed_? "Hey," he groaned.

"You should probably get going," Payson reminded Kaylie. "It's getting late, and you worked really hard today. You need some rest."

Kaylie nodded, eyes wide. "Uh, yes, uh…I was just leaving." Her eyes lit up when she spotted her keys on the hood of her car, where Austin had haphazardly set them at some point. Kaylie grabbed the keys and stepped around Austin to get into her car. She started it.

"See you tomorrow, Pay, Em," she waved.

"Bye!" chorused the two other girls.

Austin and Kaylie just stared at each other as she backed out of her spot, neither breaking eye contact until Kaylie shifted the car's gears and sped away.

**A/N: As always, reviews are very loved! So, whose POV do you like better thus far – Kaylie's or Austin's?**


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